Dexter under fire for keeping Muskrat Falls study secret for 3 months

By The Canadian Press and DAVID JACKSON Provincial ReporterPublished December 7, 2012 - 5:15am Last Updated December 7, 2012 - 10:08am

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The debate over Nova Scotia’s role in the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric development in Labrador took an odd twist Thursday as Premier Darrell Dexter struggled to explain why an ongoing study of the project has been kept secret for the past three months.

Dexter has said the province will spend about $85,000 on an untendered contract to have John Dalton, president of Power Advisory in Carlisle, Mass., determine whether getting electricity from Muskrat Falls would be cheaper than getting it from wind turbines, natural gas plants or hydro dams in Quebec.

He said work started on the assessment in September.

The opposition has been calling for an independent review for months, but the premier did not say anything about Dalton’s work until Wednesday.

When asked why he kept the study under wraps, Dexter initially indicated he did not want the media pestering Dalton’s company.

On Thursday, Dexter changed gears, saying outside the legislature that the only thing that mattered was that the work was being done.

“People want to be assured that this is going to lead to the lowest and fairest rates,” he said.

The government often announces when it is launching a study, but when pressed for a more specific answer on keeping this one secret, Dexter said:

“Usually, when we talk about (studies), it is when we have something that is of a nature that is mature enough to be able to talk about it. It takes time to develop that.

“They have to do the work, they have to do the research, they have to do the analysis. It’s not a riddle. I’m not trying to be anything but forthright.”

Dexter said he hasn’t seen the results from the study.

Progressive Conservative Leader Jamie Baillie said he believes the premier chose to remain mute until he was sure the study would give him the answers he wanted, a charge Dexter has denied.

“He has determined what he wants the outcome to be, and he wants to make sure that’s what it is before he releases the report,” Baillie said outside the legislature as members gathered for the final sitting of the fall session.

“That just shows how backwards the decision-making around Muskrat Falls has been. To decide the outcome first and study later is exactly what is wrong with the approach the premier’s taking.”

Baillie and the Liberals both questioned Dalton’s independence in light of him being the province’s renewable energy administrator. He’s also helped the province respond to federal coal-fired electricity regulations.

The premier’s office on Thursday released Dalton’s contract for the work, minus his hourly rate and the maximum the province will pay him.

The terms of reference say Dalton is to compare increased imports of electricity from New Brunswick and Quebec, more wind and natural gas power in Nova Scotia, and Lower Churchill hydroelectricity through the Maritime Link.

Dalton could not be reached directly but said in a voice mail that his company prides itself on its independence.

He also said with the report subject to regulatory review, it will have to be a rigorous and thorough analysis, and he’ll need to show the assumptions are reasonable and appropriate.

The province retained Dalton for the review less than a week before it expected the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board hearing on the Maritime Link to start.

The contract, dated

Sept. 24, said the hearing was likely to be initiated by the end of September and wrap up in January or February.

The hearing hasn’t started because Emera hasn’t yet filed its application. Dexter said he expects to release Dalton’s report next month, before hearings get underway.

The Maritime Link is the subsea electrical cable that will connect Cape Breton with Newfoundland. It has an estimated price tag of $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion.

That portion of the project is supposed to be built by a subsidiary of Emera Inc., parent of Nova Scotia Power Inc., the province’s privately owned electric utility.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has signed off on a loan guarantee for the entire hydroelectric project, which is estimated to cost between $7.5 billion and $7.7 billion.